Asia’s tigers eye nuclear future

February 15, 2008 (Asia Times) – The 2005-07 spike in petroleum prices topping out at US$100 a barrel has prodded economic planners across the globe to reconsider their energy options in an age of growing concern over global warming and carbon emissions. The Southeast Asian economies, beneficiaries of an oil and gas export bonanza through the 1970s-1990s, now find themselves in an energy crunch as once-ample reserves run down and the search is on for new and cleaner energy supplies. Notably, regional leaders at the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore in November 2007 issued a statement promoting civilian nuclear power, alongside renewable and alternative energy sources.

Advertisement

China’s COSL signs deal with Philippine National Oil Corporation

January 19, 2008 (Xinhua) – China Oilfield Service Limited (2883: HK) has signed its first overseas directional geothermal well service contract with the Philippine National Oil Corporation (PNOC).  Under the two-year contract, COSL will provide engineering and technological services to 34 PNOC directional geothermal wells, according to company sources.

The contract is worth millions of U.S. dollars, sources said without giving further details.

COSL has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2002. The majority of its activities, such as drilling and marine support services, are carried out off the Chinese coast.

Its operations have extended around the world, including the America, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Rethinking biofuels in the Philippines

January 23, 2008 (Inquirer.net) – The hottest debate in town involves something vital to motorists: fuel.  Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who ironically enough authored the Biofuels Act of 2007, wants to apply the brakes on its implementation, citing the recent warning of 1998 Nobel laureate for chemistry Dr. Hartmut Michel that our government’s biofuels program could endanger the country’s food security and harm the environment.  The Biofuels Act, which was signed into law in January 2007, requires the oil industry to sell diesel with a minimum 1 percent biodiesel blend (B1) within three months after the signing of the law and gasoline with 5 percent bioethanol (E5) in two years. The Biofuels Act aims to reduce the nation’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, save hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign exchange annually, cut the carbon-dioxide emissions believed to cause global warming and revive the moribund sugar and coconut industries.

KMP doubts advantages of Jatropha

January 20, 2008 (Sun.Star) – The Kilusang magbubukid ng Pilipas (KMP) in Southern Mindanao expressed doubts about the advantages brought by Jathropa planting as well as the Biofuels act that is currently being debated upon.

“Foreign-funded Jathropa plantations are encroaching on agricultural lands and it only adds to the existing laws and policies that cause food deprivation among the poor Filipinos like the 70 percent farmers and farm workers in the country,” Celso Pojas, KMP-SMR spokesperson said in their e-mailed statement.

He said KMP received reports from their members that 300,000 hectares of land in Compostela Valley alone are targeted for Jathropa planting.

Madrid-based firm investing $200M to develop 100,000 hectares of land for Jatropha plantations in the Philippines

December 2, 2007 (Inquirer) – A MADRID-BASED biodiesel firm is planning to invest $200 million in the Philippines to develop at least 100,000 hectares of land into jatropha plantations, the Department of Agriculture said.

The jatropha will be used as feedstock for biofuel facilities in the country.

Mindanao (Philippines) cited as most suitable area for jatropha biodiesel feedstock production

November 29, 2007 (Philippines Information Agency) – In light of the search for alternative fuels due to the skyrocketing prices of oil products, Mindanao has been eyed as the most suitable area for biodiesel feedstock production.In his speech before the Mindanao Communicators Network on the topic “Prospects of Biofuels in Mindanao,” PNOC Alternative Fuels Corporation chairman Renato S. Velasco explained the importance of biofuels and its advantages, the global demand for biodiesel and the global supply of biodiesel, and the significance of jatropha as a source of biodiesel feedstock in the country.

In explaining jatropha in the Philippines, Velasco stressed that the country is ideal for jatropha cultivation.

First Gen wins $1.35 bln bid for geothermal stake (Philippines)

November 22, 2007 (Reuters) – Philippine power producer First Gen won an auction for the government’s majority stake in geothermal firm PNOC-Energy Development Corp with a $1.35 billion offer that taps into the energy potential of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Manila is selling its holding in PNOC-EDC, which generates power from volcanic hotsprings, to help meet its 2007 budget deficit target of 63 billion pesos, or 0.9 percent of GDP.

A powerful joint congressional committee said on Thursday the sale was illegal because under Philippine law only the government can explore and develop domestic sources of energy, but a First Gen executive said the company was unperturbed.

Asia signs ‘green region’ environment pact

November 22, 2007 (Forbes) – Leaders of 16 Asian nations including China and India signed a pact on the environment Wednesday, pledging action on climate change and forest cover, and promoting the use of nuclear energy. The East Asia Summit members threw their support behind a UN plan as the ‘core mechanism’ for tackling global warming.

Philippines President Arroyo to press environment issues in Singapore

November 18, 2007 (Inquirer) – President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is expected to follow up in Singapore environmental issues concerning Southeast Asia, including the need for renewable sources of energy and the conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems.

At a briefing Saturday on the series of summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations scheduled here on Nov. 19-22, Filipino journalists were told that Ms Arroyo’s first meeting was expected to cover environmental issues.

Biodiesel continues to grow in Asia, says Frost & Sullivan

November 5, 2007 (Energy Current) – Asia Pacific’s biodiesel consumption is likely to reach 1.2 million tonnes (1.32 million tons) in 2007, with China, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines being the largest markets, according to a report by Frost & Sullivan.

Biodiesel production in the region, which previously focused on export markets especially for the European Union (EU), will be increasingly driven by domestic demand, the report, Strategic Analysis of the Asia Pacific Biodiesel Industry, said.

Government mandates and other policies favouring biodiesel use will drive demand to around eight million tonnes (8.8 million tons) by 2013. “The governments of New Zealand, the Philippines and South Korea have introduced blending mandates, either for biofuels as a class or specifically for diesel, which will create a guaranteed market, although the blending percentages are generally low when compared to the EU market,” Frost & Sullivan’s Director of Industrial Technologies Mark Dougan said.